How do you determine a good indy Porsche shop?
 

I'm in the process of searching for a good indy Porsche shop, with reasonable labor rate, that's not too far from my house (Nassau county, Long Island). I narrow it down to the following 2 shops and will go visit them this week. What should I look for to determine that it's a good Porsche shop? What's the typical labor rate?

1) Manhattan Motorsports: MMS

2) Werks 1 Inc.: Long Island Porsche Services | Maintenance | Restoration | Werks 1 Inc.

Just do this; enquire about some aftermarket parts and ask them if they are willing to install them on your Porsche. If they accept, move to the other listing. My understanding of a "good" indy Porsche shop anyway

For any other things like oil, service, parts changing and mods. Any sport car garage boy can do it brotha. Just pickup the nearest/cheapest

Referrals from local PCA members who have used them for a while. Word gets around pretty fast and most PCA regions have active owners who know the gems from the snakes.

You might try this thread.

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/9615-find-your-local-mechanic-porsche-specialist.html

I went with the one that is taking the most business away from the local dealer! My first experience with him and his shop was the fabspeed exhaust. Fabspeed recommended him and that is how I found him. turns out that the local dealer has lost a ton of business to this shop. Last time I was there...he had only P cars in the shop - at least 7 or 8. Unlike some shops that will work on everything and say they are a P car specialist...

Lastly - My mechanic worked for the P dealer for about 4 years in the shop...

Call Fabspeed and pretend like you are wanting an exhaust and ask what local shop they recommend for the install. The P dealer laughed when I asked them if they would install the exhaust. said they would never put anything on the car they would have to apologize for. There exhaust would have been 7K plus...

Thanks for all the suggestions. :cheers:

So I visited both Porsche specialist shops and both seemed very knowledgeable and friendly, but now the issue is one shop charges about the same hourly rate as the dealer, and the other is actually 15% higher than the dealer. I'm looking to have my wheel bearing replace (3~5 hrs) and in this case I think it's more logical to go to the dealer as it cost about the same as the indy (or 15% higher at the second indy). I was hoping to built a relationship with a good Porsche indy shop but with them charging the same or more than the dealer it's a hard sale. What do you think?

Oh my god I got to get my wheel bearings replaced too...is this a special thing I should go to the dealers for or can most shops do this.
The dealership in MA will charge $1000 minimum for both rear bearings.

Anyhoo by coincidence I am moving to long island Sept for internship.
I'll be in East Meadow's hospital so was wondering if I should just take care of the wheel bearing before I go or look for an indy there in NY

Question for you: Is the hourly rate they charge actual time spent on the job or a book rate?

Dealers always charge a book rate. If the tech gets the job done faster (and he usually does if he's a seasoned tech) then the price is not discounted.

My indy mechanic charges $100 an hour (same rate as dealer here in Houston), but he charges me actual time if less than his estimate. Very honest way of doing business if you ask me. I can also supply my own parts, but he doesn't warrant the parts or the labor if I do that. Fair enough.

I got my wheel bearings replaced for $375 per corner. That also included swapping out other suspension parts that were loose on the ground to get the hub off the car and R/R the bearing. $500 seems high considering the bearings are less than $60 each, but you live in the northeast where everything seems to cost more.

Dealer quoted 3-5 hrs depends on how easy it is to remove the one rear wheel bearing, he said some older cars are tougher to remove, their rate is $155/hr and one wheel bearing is $110 at the dealer. So worst case for a 5 hrs job it'll cost me $961 after tax, and that's just for ONE rear wheel bearing replacement. The other Indy is $175/hr and he quoted 4-5 hrs so after tax it's about $1000. I think I should search more indy for a more reasonable price. Also, while I change out the rear wheel bearing, is there anything I should have replace while they are at it? I know my trailing arm bushing is bad.

Mate, anyone with a quality torque wrench and access to the Porsche torque specs will be able to change your bearings. Some dude-with-tools would also be happy to just do it in your driveway for $200 on a Saturday afternoon - very easy to do (45-60 min per wheel). Sure you can print off some torque specs kindly offered by a member here and just get on with it at the garage where you normally fill-up. The garage who has the wheel alignment set-up would possibly be best!

$1,000 for changing four little bearings is far more than what a qualified aerospace engineer do from 'one' full day of hard work lollll

Here is where I would go if I lived in your area;

Provost Motorsports HERE

Evo- Asking what else you can change out when you swap a wheel bearing is a slippery slope.

I did that and ended up replacing all four struts all the control arms, the drop links, the brake discs and pads, the brake lines for braided stainless...

This is where spending money on your car and go from expensive to outrageously expensive.

However, my situation was very different from yours. I supplied my own parts to my Indy any charge me a flat $100 per hour. Wheel bearings, coil overs, drop links and control arms all the way around including labor was about $3500.

crazy my dealership gave me a similar breakdown, east coast prices
so far I elected to not fix it...I hear a whomp whomp when i drive above certain speeds but below 3000rpm

If you want a world class Porsche Shop - make the trip to Musante Motorsports in So. Windsor, Ct. You'll get the best service with ethical treatment barring none.

Thanks JD! It's a bit far from me but I'll keep that in mind. BTW, both of those shops I visited are very friendly people and treated me nicely but it all comes down to the repair quote.